In the early days of our publishing business, when 80’s bands were flourishing, A&R departments were buzzing, terrestrial radio was humming and both Music Connection and Songwriter Connection magazine’s were peaking, my partner Eric and I were constantly being tossed all sorts of unique opportunities: record company perks, trade show co-ops, concert tie-ins, event partnerships, and even co-sponsorships with the City of Los Angeles and the State of California. And we would say YES to almost every offer that came our way. Don’t forget, all this was preceded by the “start-up” years when no one knew or even cared who we were. So when companies started offering to partner with us we felt invincible and cocksure about all the exciting opps that were coming our way.
However, as time went on and the offers of “co-mingling” continued to grow, we began to notice that not every association or partnership turned out to be mutually favorable. And after getting stung a few times, we made up a simple rule: “Wait 24 hrs. before we make a decision about ANYTHING!” Even if we KNEW we would say yes the next day, we would still wait 24 hrs. just to be sure we were making an intelligent decision, with a clear mind, free of emotion. Often it was longer than 24 hrs, and most often after giving it the extra time we would see that the situation wasn’t right for us at all.
As the years went on and we continued to build our company, grow our staff, partner with big projects, purchase real estate, etc. the 24 hr. rule became an invaluable tool to help in our decision-making process.
Important because to this day, neither one of us makes a big decision without giving it the “24 hr. rule.” And over the years this simple rule has probably saved us thousands of dollars and boatloads of angst and stress.